The present invention relates to the construction of roof trusses for frame buildings and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus which simplifies the construction of such trusses so that they can be easily constructed at the building site at which a building requiring the same is being erected.
A frame building roof truss is the structural framework which supports a roof on the sidewalls of the building. A plurality of such roof trusses or frameworks are typically required for each building, which trusses must conform quite accurately to one another to be able to evenly support the load of the roof. Typically, though, roof trusses include angled joints and the like which are not easily made on-site with the accuracy that is required. For this reason, it is the general practice now to order trusses from a manufacturing plant which is especially equipped to prefabricate the same with the accuracy required. The equipment required at the plant is fairly expensive and generally complicated. That is, special saw and measuring table arrangements are typically provided to pre-cut the individual pieces of the desired trusses to the correct specifications. The pre-cut pieces are then transported to a truss assembly table having specially adjusted stops and the like to properly position the truss pieces for fastening together.
The necessity of having roof trusses made at a separate location and then transported to the site at which a building is being constructed is less than satisfactory. It is not unusual for a contractor to reach that construction stage requiring roof trusses without having received the same from the manufacturer. Also, any erroneously constructed roof trusses generally must be sent back to the factory to be corrected, with the result that the construction job is delayed. Delay, especially in the construction industry, costs money.